Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'll pass along some advice given to me a long time ago by a very 
experienced rider.  He once said to me, if you want to know if your tack 
fits and what you are doing *really* works, ride your horse 1,000 miles in 
a single season.  It wasn't long after that I decided to make that my 
goal.  I started to figure out just who were those riders that had actually 
done that, ridden 1000 miles in a single season on one horse.  Those were 
the people I looked to when I needed to ask questions about how to solve 
problems like loin rubbing, girths, feeding and how and when to worm and 
vaccinate a horse competing on a regular basis.  I watched them at rides 
and learned from them, so that I too, could achieve what they had.  Along 
the way you have to learn to accept that sometimes what works or worked for 
your horse at one point in time is not always going to work and if you are 
really paying attention you can get ahead of the game and anticipate what 
problems you might encounter and possibly avoid them all together.

I'm only bringing this up because most of the people who are riding their 
horses this much, are not on the internet.  Don't be afraid to approach 
them at rides and ask these people questions and look at what equipment 
they are using.

I'm also not saying that you can't find what you need here either, or that 
you can't learn from any other horse person.  I know I have learned a lot 
from non-endurance horse people and have yet to find anybody that I 
couldn't learn something from.

I have a horse that is Mr. Sensitive.  I can't use a lot of pads on him, 
definitely no coolback pads, no cloud nines.  He doesn't even do well with 
Skito.  It's either the % or type of wool, but it breaks off the hairs and 
makes half moons over his loins.  I am afraid to try anything other than 
what I have found works -- and that is a Toklat Woolback pad.  They do wear 
out and need replacing, usually the inserts need replacing more often than 
the pad itself (and they are more cost effective because you can reverse 
them which is important on a long ride or a multiday so you can always have 
a clean pad on your horses back).  They have lasted for me a lot longer 
than any other kind of pad has and with the least amount of problems.  I 
usually try to use items that work for the most sensitive horse and then 
use the same thing on all of them that way I don't have to use only certain 
things on certain horses.  I have found that almost as important as the 
type of equipment you use, is keeping it (and the horse) clean.  I have 
seen horses sored from Supracor pads simply because the pads were not 
cleaned often enough.  So it isn't always just the item itself, but the 
management of it and of the horse.

Karen
in NV

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I don't think you have to join a gym or buy frilly outfits to get some
fitness.  A decent set of shoes and a 15 minute dismount here and there
will help. 
~  Jon K. Linderman, Ph.D., FACSM, Assistant Professor of Health and Sport Science, University of Dayton

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

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